I’m doing two FREE workshops next week: Your Confident Mothermorphosis for you beautiful bumps, and a pelvic floor restore workshop at Level Six Peckham next Thursday morning 6th December, babies welcome – come along if you can.
If you don’t already, you can follow me on Instagram @mothers.wellness.toolkit – I share there lots of postnatal healing and pelvic floor information, and Pelvic Floor Meditation live on Insta at 7.30pm on Mondays, which stays on my stories for 24 hours.
But I’m a mum – I don’t have any time!
Remember there is never a “perfect time” to focus on your postnatal rehab. You have to build it in to the time you already have and try not to feel that it’s a “to do” pressure to feel the weight of. Doing 3 minutes here, 3 minutes there is much more valuable for your core health than trying to make time for an hour a week.
It doesn’t have to be a “full workout” to be effective. 7 minutes a day is valuable, remember. Build it up as and when you can. When pushing your buggy or baby wearing, take a moment regularly to breathe, really fully deeply breathe and soften your shoulders.
Your mum posture day to day
Check in at least once a day with how you are carrying yourself. Either stretch against the wall: stand against the wall facing perpendicularly away, place your hand onto the wall. The rotate away from the wall, straightening your arm. You should feel a stretch in your pecs. Or: lie on your back with your arms outstretched and draw snow angels in the floor.
Most importantly, think about your A, B, Cs: Alignment, Breathing, Centring, with your every day movement.
Alignment: release yourself into the ground at least once a day: lie down, breathe, soften, legs up the wall is ideal.
Align your ribcage directly over/in line with the pelvis whenever you can, to restore the natural momentum within your torso: diaphragm over the pelvic floor.
Breathing is your number one tool for healing
You carry it around with you daily. Use it, it’s free, you don’t have to do anything “extra”, plus it will calm and soothe your nervous system. Breathe. It’s SO important. Breathe well, and your pelvic floor health will benefit.
Remember – 5 deep breaths is all it takes to soften you out of fight or flight mode.
Remember when you’re picking up your baby/carseat/squatting down/getting up from the floor blow as you go:
Breathe OUT to lift UP your pelvic floor when you pick up your baby, lift the carseat, sneeze, etc.
Lifting your baby in a carseat places more load on your pelvic floor than any sit up will.
Pelvic floor exercise will help heal any diastasis abdominal separation, it’s your deep abdominal wall that you want to strengthen, and this works together alongside the pelvic floor.
Don’t be afraid to move. But build your INNER STRENGTH adequately before you start high impact work such as running and HIIT.
Can I run while I’m leaking wee?
If you are running and also leaking, or feeling like you’re “falling out” – the simple answer is to stop running. Running while experiencing pelvic floor dysfunction is a bit like wallpapering a newly built wall before the plaster is dry. It’s temporary. Build the strength first, and then test it. Don’t test it simultaneously while you’re still building it, it’ll be like jumping into a boat which has a hole in it.
Download the Squeezy app without delay. 3 minutes, 3 times a day is all it will take to see some difference.
If you are experiencing urinary or faecal incontinence, DON’T IGNORE IT. DON’T LAUGH IT OFF. DON’T JUST REACH FOR A TENA PAD.
PELVIC FLOORS ARE FOR LIFE
Your pelvic floor will not magically get better on its own. It needs attention and care, and then it will work loyally and diligently for you in return.
THINK TENNER NOT TENA: imagine lifting a ten pound note up into your vagina. Hold it for 5 seconds, then drop it down.
Other resources to have a look at: Pilates by Georgia is a physio and Pilates teacher, and on facebook she shares free workouts which are postnatal pelvic floor friendly.
Her website is Home | Pilates By Georgia where you can do a 2-week trial for free or you can pay a subscription for her workouts, some of which are really short and really easy to squeeze in (if you’ll excuse the pun).
Remember – you’re doing an amazing job. And you WILL build up your strength again.
Pilates for Pregnancy by Anya HAyes